Monday, January 20, 2014

Thing

This week's word was "thing" or "things," however we want to interpret it. This is a thing I did over the weekend, inspired by an article on hand lettering I read. I thought I would try my hand at doing it. It isn't perfect but it's okay.

Things to try are always in my head. Today I tried a thing that has been in my head for at least ten years. I've joked over the years that I wanted to buy a machine quilting machine and quilt quilts. It's kind of been a joke because a) those things are expensive, b) I used to sew and quilt and have not done so for years, d) this would be starting a small business and I'm scared, c) well, I don't know. But today I did realize that when thinking about this thing, I have trouble differentiating between good sense and fear, so I don't know what I might actually do over a period of time about this particular endeavor. Maybe nothing.

Anyway, my aunt told me about a quilt shop that would give lessons on how to use the (in this case, $15,000) machine and would rent it to you to quilt your quilts. I went by for a visit a couple of weeks ago and I scheduled a lesson for today. So now today, part of my itch has been scratched. I sort of know how to use the machine. I did not tear it up. I did not stitch a finger (in spite of me having to adapt a tiny bit for being left handed). I did not do it perfectly. She did not say I was a genius quilter, but she did say I did well and listened carefully (but of course!).

I can't say I exactly loved it. But I can see where one could get into a flow and enjoy doing the work. And I am going to go back again and rent some more time on the machine for practice and play. I have at least three quilts top that I could finish. I have a couple of sets of blocks I could work on to make more tops. I have no lack of things to finish if I decided I wanted to do this.

See my photos below. It is not stellar work but I'm quite proud of it nonetheless (it is done on "practice" fabric with muslin for a backing, not a quilt top!).

 I did this flower at the end of the day when I was practicing and getting more of a feel for the machine (my biggest problem was that I needed to relax and let the machine do the work).
 And she showed me how to do a little heart, then move on to circles. It's hard to think about where you need to go on the quilt top and not to let yourself get boxed in. I must practice that more.
 This was done with some sort of thing called a work station. You traced around the pattern with a stylus from the back of the machine.

7 comments:

  1. Well, I wrote a lovely comment and it just erased it... great job and free motion quilting is fun. You can free motion on your sewing machine... I've done queen size quilts on mine... yes, it takes time to relax into it... it's cool and fun.

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    1. It is fun, Lori! I hope to do some more quilting soon.

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  2. My mom quilts, and so this is close to my heart. You've done a beautiful thing here and I love that it's all such an experiment....and that it results in beauty. Inspires me, friend.

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    1. Thanks, Beth! I've seen your mom's quilts, Beth! They are inspiring to me!

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  3. I think those look amazing!

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  4. i freaking love this!! Fabric is such a love of mine. i think what you did was amazing! Look at you learning new things and growing! You are so my hero!

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    1. Thanks! I hope to be doing more with fabric in the days to come!

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